{"id":31019,"date":"2026-07-20T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2026\/07\/20\/trust-between-operators-ccas-starts-with-simulations-former-air-force-secretary\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:06:21","slug":"trust-between-operators-ccas-starts-with-simulations-former-air-force-secretary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2026\/07\/20\/trust-between-operators-ccas-starts-with-simulations-former-air-force-secretary\/","title":{"rendered":"Trust between operators, CCAs starts with simulations: Former Air Force secretary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The next step toward further integrating semiautonomous aircraft into the U.S. Air Force and building trust with human operators<\/a> would be through simulations and training exercises, a former Air Force secretary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank Kendall<\/a>, the Air Force\u2019s 26th secretary who served under former President Joe Biden, said in a Thursday roundtable hosted by Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies that gathering experience in the field and through simulations help operators establish trust with autonomous systems, like the Collaborative Combat Aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to accumulate a basis for trust over time, and so I think we just need to think carefully about how we structure things in order to make that opportunity,\u201d Kendall said during the roundtable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, the Air Force announced that it conducted<\/a> the first-ever live-fire test of an inert AIM-120 from an Anduril-made YFQ-44A. The CCA recently completed an end-to-end, beyond-line-of-sight strike against a simulated target, the service announced, but did not specify when the exercise occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force is scheduled to continue live-fire testing with General Atomics\u2019 YFQ-42A this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendall said that using the aircraft in Red Flag<\/a>, the service\u2019s leading large-force aerial combat training simulation held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, will be \u201cfascinating,\u201d but he worries about the force using initial setbacks as an excuse to \u201cretreat\u201d instead of pushing ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former secretary was optimistic that institutional support will be enough to overcome those setbacks, saying that enthusiastic operators want to see the aircraft\u2019s full potential realized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kendall recalled when he once asked an Air Combat Command crew who were developing CCA tactics why there wasn\u2019t more resistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[A young fighter pilot\u2019s] answer was, \u2018Sir, these things are going to save our lives.\u2019\u201d Kendall recalled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simulations define the exercises, he added, saying that it showcases how the aircraft protects crew fighters effectively right now even as the force needs to develop more sophisticated tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe guys with the CCAs are beating the crap out of the guys without them, and not losing any manned fighters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t